Anyone with Envirotex experience?

[Anonymous]

I'll be putting the finishing touches on my lake soon (finally) to include 'pouring' the water in. The locals are excited because there will be a place they can rent rowboats and it's all located in the middle of the city park so there are also some very choice picnic spots. I hate to dissapoint them so I would like to know if it is possible to put boats in the Envirotex before it dries? I assume so but I want to make sure I don't put them in too early or I'm afraid they will sink [:(] and that would definitely be bad advertising for the boat rental business. Anybody else done this?

Thanks.
Mark

[Anonymous]

Mmm, I know you guys are out there...

[Anonymous]

Hello, I'm in the same boat as you, my lake is ready for some water and i was debaiting on weather to try the Woodland scenics product or nor not, i would like to put in a couple boats as well,

[Anonymous]

As long as the boats really do float (and don't leak), yes, you can put boats in. Do it early while the stuff is still fully liquid.

[Anonymous]

Only thing to watch with envirotek is it creeps up a little and stuff floats in it. I didn't put a boat in mine, but put swimming people and wading people who I cut off to be waist deep in the water. I had to "weight" them to hold them down until the enviro set (about 12-20 hours). It's the only stuff I use anymore. A neat thing I do is put big ballast rocks in it and they form ripples. After it sets I highlight with white paint for rapids. It is also very fluid when first poored so have tape handy to patch holes as it will find them. FRED

[Anonymous]

Do the boats become physically glued to the Envirotex once it dries?

[Anonymous]

Stuff is liquid epoxy, so it glues almost anything to anything when set, including plastic and wood. FRED

[Anonymous]

Thanks-a-mill for the info. One last thing, are items put on the surface easily removed once the Envirotex dries?

M

[Anonymous]

If they are put on when it's wet NO, they are glued. If they are put on after it's dry YES, but paint and stuff stick to it well enough. FRED

[Anonymous]

So if they are not flat bottom boats putting them on once the Envirotex dries is ot an option right?

[Anonymous]

Just an FYI... This discussion is rolling...

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=10214

And, Yes, the boats will be permanent.. I suggest adding them last once dry if possible.

[Anonymous]

If having removable full-hulled boats is the goal, you might try creating a casting of the boat's hull in some material which will be removable from the epoxy later. I'm not sure what that material would be; I'm thinking maybe there is some sort of plaster that will not soak in the epoxy much, which could be chipped out or washed out or whatever. You would need to suspend the hull casting from above, and pour the epoxy around it. If you're pouring multiple layers of epoxy, then you might simply place the hull casting on top of the layer that is as deep as the bottom of the boat, rather than suspending it. Another option, rather than casting a hull, might be to build a dam out of clear styrene, which is precisely shaped to the outline of the boat's hull, and place this dam at the right height, perhaps by relying on pouring multiple layers again.

I think you'll find, though, that a flat-hulled boat model which simply sits on top of the water will be fully satisfying and much easier to deal with.

Incidentally, when I have poured deep epoxy in multiple 1/8" layers, I have taken advatage of the situation to mix in acrylic pigments for each layer, in order to create a look of sedimentation and depth. The bottom layers can contain more of the sediment colors, like clay browns and even black in the very bottom layer, while nearer the top you might add in some blues or greens to get the classic sky-reflecting look. The top layer should still be basically clear. In each of these cases, though, you don't add much pigment, because you don't want to lose all of the depth.